Journalism Education The Journal of the Association for Journalism Education - Volume Nine, No: One Spring 2020
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Journalism Education ISSN: 2050-3903 Journalism Education The Journal of the Association for Journalism Education Volume Nine, No: One Spring 2020
Page 2 Journalism Education Volume 9 number 1
Journalism Education
Journalism Education is the journal of the Association for Journalism Education a body
representing educators in HE in the UK and Ireland. The aim of the journal is to promote
and develop analysis and understanding of journalism education and of journalism, particu-
larly when that is related to journalism education.
Editors
Sallyanne Duncan, University of Strathclyde
Chris Frost, Liverpool John Moores University
Deirdre O’Neill Huddersfield University
Stuart Allan, Cardiff University
Reviews editor: Tor Clark, de Montfort University
You can contact the editors at AJEJournal@gmail.com
Editorial Board
Chris Atton, Napier University
Olga Guedes Bailey, Nottingham Trent University
David Baines, Newcastle University
Guy Berger, UNESCO
Jane Chapman, University of Lincoln
Martin Conboy, Sheffield University
Ros Coward, Roehampton University
Stephen Cushion, Cardiff University
Susie Eisenhuth, University of Technology, Sydney
Ivor Gaber, University of Sussex
Roy Greenslade, City University
Mark Hanna, Sheffield University
Michael Higgins, Strathclyde University
John Horgan, Ireland
Sammye Johnson, Trinity University, San Antonio, USA
Richard Keeble, University of Lincoln
Mohammed el-Nawawy, Queens University of Charlotte
An Duc Nguyen, Bournemouth University
Sarah Niblock, CEO UKCP
Bill Reynolds, Ryerson University, Canada
Ian Richards, University of South Australia
Verica Rupar, Auckland University of Technology
Prasun Sonwalkar, University of the West of England
Linda Steiner, University of Maryland, USA
Kate Wright, Edinburgh University
Sonja Merljak Zdovc, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Editorial
Articles
Volume 9 number 1 Journalism Education page 3
Volume Nine number One: Contents
Contributors 4
Articles
Going digital, not dying out: how universities are uniquely placed to 6
teach digital journalism survival skills by Ian Bucknell, University of
Leeds
Teaching responsible suicide reporting (RSR): using storytelling as a 18
pedagogy to advance media reporting of suicide by Sallyanne Duncan,
University of Strathclyde and Ann Luce, Bournemouth University
Cover price rises of regional newspapers accentuated decline in sales 32
as digital media grew between 2006-2016 by Richard Bowyer, Derby
University
Is it possible to get 100 at university? The flaws of the UK grading 48
system and its impacts on Journalism and Media assessments by Ivana
Ebel and Alex Ward, Derby University
Comment and Criticism
Kovach and Rosenstiel’s Elements of Journalism: a foundational text or 58
a moment in history? by Ivor Gaber, University of Sussex
Confessional journalism and podcasting by Kate Williams, University 66
of Northampton
The new journalism education – teaching and learning during a pan- 74
demic
The experience of moving our MA Broadcast News Days online: teaching resource-
fulness and creativity by Emma Hemmingway, Nottingham Trent University
MA student newsdays: Doing it for real in Covid’s new normal by Jonny Greatrex,
Nottingham Trent University
Seven points to consider when teaching journalism practice online by Zahera
Harb, City, University of London
Snappers turn to social documentary by Claire Wolfe, University of Worcester
Books - this year’s publication 82
Editorial
Articles
Contributors
Page 4 Journalism Education Volume 9 number 1
Richard Bowyer
Richard is a Senior Lecturer in Journalism, specialising in print, newspapers and magazines, and online
journalism but teaching right across all the courses Derby delivers, including online, print, both newspapers
and magazines and social media. His research interest involve the changing face of the regional press, media
law and ethics, Leveson, IPSO and journalistic standards. He has presented research papers at a number of
conferences both in the UK and Europe. He has been a course and exam assessor for the National Council
for the Training of Journalists and is a member of the British Society of Magazine Editors.
Ian Bucknell
Ian leads the Journalism programme at the University of Leeds. Before teaching he worked as a producer
and video journalist at the BBC. In 2012, he won a Europe-wide award (CIRCOM) for Best Sports Pro-
gramme for producing Yorkshire Olympic Dreams. Another highlight was filming, producing and directing
a behind-the-scenes documentary called “Jessica Ennis: Golden Girl” for BBC One. He is a skilled all-
rounder who can film, edit, report and produce factual television and digital journalism to broadcast stand-
ard. His role at the university allows him to pass those skills on and prepare students for the varied chal-
lenges of working in the media.
Sallyanne Duncan
Sallyanne is a Senior Lecturer in journalism at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. She researches me-
dia reporting of trauma, death, bereavement and suicide, is co-author of Reporting Bad News, has published
several journal articles and is working on a book on ethics for journalists. Additionally, she revised profes-
sional guidelines on media reporting of mental health and suicide for the National Union of Journalists, has
submitted evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, and gave evidence to the National Assembly of Wales’ suicide
prevention inquiry, with Dr Ann Luce.
Ivana Ebel
Ivana is a Senior Lecturer in Journalism at the University of Derby working with undergraduate, Masters,
and PhD students. She has a broad international experience and holds a PhD in Communication and Media
Sciences (Leipzig University - Germany); a Masters in Digital Media (Bremen University - Germany); a
Bachelor in Communication Sciences – Journalism (Univali, Itajaí – Brazil), and a Post-Graduate Certifi-
cate in Higher Education (PGCertHe – University of Derby – UK). Her research is concentrated on media
convergence, digital storytelling, visual rhetoric and mobile media consumption. She is multilingual and has
more than two decades of international industry experience.
Ivor Gaber
Ivor is Professor of Political Journalism at the University of Sussex, having previously held chairs in Jour-
nalism at City and Bedfordshire universities and Goldsmiths College. Before joining academia he held
editorial posts ranging from reporter to programme editor at BBC TV and Radio, ITV News, Channel 4
and Sky News.
Jonny Greatrex
Jonny is currently course leader for our MA in News Journalism. He teaches practical journalism skills
across undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The modules he teaches include Data Journalism, Practi-
cal Journalism and Social Media on undergraduate courses, and Newspaper Journalism Skills and Digital
Production at postgraduate level. Jonny graduated from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in News-
paper Journalism in 2007, securing a job as a trainee reporter at the Birmingham Post and Mail Group (now
BPM Media) immediately after the course. At BPM he progressed to being a senior multimedia reporter,
then a multimedia editor and, finally, digital development editor. In 2015, he joined Canterbury Christ
Church University as programme director for BA Multimedia Journalism. He is a committee member and
web editor for the Association of Journalism Education.
Editorial
Articles
Volume 9 number 1 Journalism Education page 5
Zahera Harb
Zahera is aSenior Lecturer in International Journalism. Her recent publications include an edited collection
Reporting the Middle East: the Practice of News in the 21st Century (IB Tauris 2017) and a monograph
Channels of Resistance: Liberation Propaganda Hezbollah and the Media (IB Tauris, 2011). She has pub-
lished widely on Journalism and Politics in the Arab region and is co-editor of Middle East Journal of
Culture and Communication. She has more than 11 years’ experience as a journalist in her native country
Lebanon working for Lebanese and international media organisations and holds a PhD in Journalism Stud-
ies and Political Communications from Cardiff University. She served as member to UK broadcast regulator
Ofcom content board and is board member/trustee of Ethical Journalism Network.
Emma Hemmingway
Emma is a Senior Lecturer and the Course Leader for the MA Broadcast Journalism. She also teaches under-
graduate modules on the BA Hons undergraduate degree, including celebrity journalism, research methods,
media theory, ethics and documentary production. A bi-media journalist with 12 years’ experience with the
BBC at regional, national and international levels in TV and radio production, reporting and network TV
documentary production. She also worked as a BBC World Service Trainer in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Emma
was awarded her PhD in 2007, has published several research articles, book chapters and a research mono-
graph entitled Into the Newsroom published by Routledge. She is currently writing a book on Social Media
and Actor Network Theory to be published by Global Press in 2021.
Ann Luce
Ann is an Associate Professor in journalism and communication at Bournemouth University, UK. She re-
searches in the area of suicide and media and is author of The Bridgend Suicides: Suicide and the Media and
Ethical Reporting of Sensitive Topics. She wrote two sets of guidelines for the World Health Organisation on
the Reporting of Suicide, and Blogging Guidelines for Save.org as well. She currently is the Research and
Media lead for the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group and is a member of the National Suicide Preven-
tion Alliance in the UK.
Alex Ward
Alex is a Lecturer in Journalism at the University of Derby, teaching predominantly on the Football Journal-
ism and Specialist Sports Journalism courses. His main expertise is video and before joining the University
of Derby he was the Video Manager in the Communications Department at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Football Club. Alex Ward has also experience as a broadcast journalist in local radio. He has a MA in
Broadcast Journalism (Staffordshire University), a PGCert in Higher Education (University of Derby) and
is a fellow of Advance HE.
Kate Williams
Kate is Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Science & Technology at the University of Northampton and
an award-winning broadcast journalist with wide experience in both radio and television. During her 22
years at the BBC she presented on BBC Radio’s 4 and 5live and the World service. She was also the BBC’s
first national radio journalist based in East Anglia. As a member of the 5live management team she under-
took project management, talent management, and programme commissioning. As a journalism trainer she
helped devise and set up the BBC’s in-house journalism training scheme all BBC journalists now undertake
through the Corporation’s College of Journalism and recruited new BBC trainee journalists. She continue to
freelance as a news presenter with the BBC.
Claire Wolfe
Claire is Principal Lecturer in Journalism at the University of Worcester and has a strong background in
news journalism. After completing a postgraduate National Council for the Training of Journalists course at
Cardiff, Claire worked at the Birmingham Post and Mail. She subsequently worked as Women’ Page Editor,
News Editor and Night Editor on the Daily News along with stints at the Sunday Mirror and Central News.
Her published research is on work-based learning, women in journalism and the impact of trolls on journal-
ism and democracy. She is a Senior Fellow of the HEA and an Expert Fellow for the Sprite Plus Network.
She was an Executive Committee member of the Association for Journalism Education for six years.
Editorial
Articles
Page 6 Journalism Education Volume 9 number 1
Articles
All papers in the Articles section are peer reviewed and
discuss the latest research in journalism and journalism
education. These are intended to inform, educate and
spark debate and discussion. Please join in this debate by
going to www.journalism-education.org to have your say
and find out what others think.
Going digital, not dying out:
how universities are uniquely
placed to teach digital
journalism survival skills
Ian Bucknell, University of Leeds
Abstract
With people showing a preference for accessing news
via websites, social media platforms and mobile appli-
cations, news organisations have increased their focus
on digital production. This has led to calls for journalism
programmes in universities to keep pace or face obso-
lescence. But whilst there is agreement over the need to
embed digital journalism in the curriculum, there is little
guidance on how this should be done in an environment
Articles
Volume 9 number 1 Journalism Education page 7
where news providers have widely different and ever-
evolving digital strategies. How can journalism schools
meet the needs of industry, when industry itself has not
settled on what those needs are? This study addresses
that question by considering the views of digital editors
from a range of the UK’s leading broadcasters and pub-
lishers. The interviewees identify digital practices they
have in common, but also emphasise the importance of
teaching the fundamentals of journalism and that the
critical thinking skills fostered in universities, help stu-
dents thrive as digital journalists.
KEYWORDS: digital journalism, news, social media, education and universities.
Introduction
Digital journalism was defined in the early years of this century as ‘the use of digital tech-
nologies to research, produce, and deliver (or make accessible) news and information to an
increasingly computer-literate audience’ (Kawamoto, 2003, p.4).
It was acknowledged that this definition was a ‘moving target’, as changes in technology and the con-
ceptualisation of journalism would lead to changes in how we understand the term. A study by Columbia
University into the commercial challenges associated with digital journalism, showed this to be the case,
as they asserted that ‘hand-held devices and tablets’ (Grueskin et al, 2011, p.4) should be included in the
definition, to make clear that we are not limiting ourselves to journalism published online and viewed via a
desktop computer. This is a worthwhile clarification given that in the UK, mobile phones surpassed comput-
ers as the primary device for accessing digital news in 2017 (Newman et al, 2019, p.68). Any contemporary
definition of digital journalism must also acknowledge the significance of social media networks as a major
gateway to news. In the USA, 46% of the population use social media as a news source, whilst in the UK
the figure has levelled out at 40% (ibid, p.69). In both countries, digital access to news (online and social
media combined) is now more popular than any legacy medium (TV, radio or print).
The impact of digital technologies on the work of journalists has been quantified by the Reuters Institute
for the Study of Journalism. In their survey of around 700 UK journalists, 98% said that social media had
changed the way they work (Thurman et al, 2016, p.36). In some cases, this has led to print, TV and radio
journalists adding new approaches to the ways they have traditionally gone about their jobs. But it has also
led to the rise of new roles focused on creating stories for websites, mobile applications and social networks.
Gradually, production focus is moving away from legacy media to digital platforms: ‘Social media teams
are increasingly viewed as (1) the first stage in the customer acquisition funnel and (2) a means of creating
a culture that puts audience impact and digital optimisation first. Their role has grown from simply ensuring
content is optimised for specific platforms to originating content tailored for those destinations’ (Kueng,
2017, p.26).
This has implications not only for news organisations, but those who shape the minds of future newsmak-
ers: ‘A shared sense of urgency in the industry and the academy is essential to ensure that today’s and tomor-
row’s journalists have the skills to create journalism that is both meaningful and economically successful’
(Finberg and Klinger, 2014, p.2). Jonathan Baker, the former Director of the BBC College of Journalism,
agrees. In his provocative essay ‘Get digital or die’, he calls on university teachers to furnish journalism
students with skills relevant to the digital world, or risk their programmes becoming obsolete (Baker, 2016).
Articles
Page 8 Journalism Education Volume 9 number 1
But whilst there is agreement over the need for journalism programmes in universities to embrace digital
practices, there is little guidance available on how this should be done. News providers themselves have
divergent and ever-evolving digital strategies, often forced upon them by rapid technological change and the
dominance of third-party platforms. How can journalism schools meet the needs of industry, when industry
itself is not sure what those needs are?
The problem was encapsulated by Piet Bakker (2014), who identified four growing areas of digital journal-
ism activity (technical, community, content and commercial) in an article on how the skills journalists need
and the tasks they perform have changed fundamentally in recent years. In his conclusion, he acknowledges
the challenge this creates for journalism educators: ‘What is striking in the technical qualifications required
of new employees is the diversity and the depth of the skills requested. It is, however, impossible for any
journalist to master them all, let alone for any J-school to teach all these skills in depth’ (ibid, p.603).
A further challenge is that existing studies on the impact digital media has had on the work of journalists
are of limited assistance. Many concentrate on theory (Steensen and Ahva, 2015), asking whether the nor-
mative values of journalism are the same in a digital environment. Others focus on how social media and
other forms of digital production and dissemination have changed the way reporters experience their role
(Nielson, 2016). Research that does assess the impact on practice, and that is therefore of particular use to
those teaching practice in higher education, often deals with the specific use of a certain digital platform or
process by a narrowly defined group of journalists, such as foreign correspondents use of Twitter (Cozma
and Chen, 2013) or the pivot to vertical video in local TV newsrooms in the USA (Canella, 2017). These
studies are insightful but focus on a thin sliver of the digital production spectrum, whilst educators need a
comprehensive overview.
Research Questions and Methods
The main aim of my research is to address the question of how journalism educators can teach digital
practices, despite the many obstacles in their way. The objective is to help journalism schools develop
curricula that meet the needs of modern newsrooms by working towards a typology of digital news skills;
identifying and categorising new practices that are common to newsrooms in the UK, whatever their legacy
medium, demographics or geographical scope. The research also seeks out any other factors in industry or
the academy, outside a typology, that might aid educators in their digital endeavours. The following research
questions are derived from these considerations:
For students intending to become digital journalists, what are the factors considered most important in
terms of developing their practice, as identified by those working in the industry?
What might a typology of digital journalism practices look like, based on the insights gained from dispa-
rate UK news organisations?
Can approaches to teaching digital journalism be identified that are not susceptible to the caprices of
technological change and the algorithms of third-party platforms? What are the fundamentals valued by
industry?
This is a qualitative study that has the aim of identifying common digital journalism practices amongst UK
news providers. The findings are based on seven semi-structured, in-depth interviews with digital editors
from a cross-section of the news media; broadcast, print and online. The participating organisations are vice.
com (UK), BBC Yorkshire, Financial Times, Sky News, JPI Media (formerly Johnston Press), ITV News
and Bauer Media. Between them, these organisations represent commercial and public service broadcasters,
digital natives and newspapers. Some interviewees work for individual titles, whilst others are employed by
media groups. The sample covers national, regional and local production, whilst reflecting a wide range of
regulatory models (see Table 1).
Organisation Media of Geographical Finance model Governance
origin coverage model
Vice.com (UK) Online National Commercially Self-regulation
owned and funded,
for-profit
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BBC Yorkshire TV and radio Regional and Publically owned Public service
local and funded, non- broadcaster, Ofcom
profit regulations
Financial Times Newspaper National C o m m e r c i a l l y Self-regulation
owned and funded,
for-profit
Sky News TV National C o m m e r c i a l l y Non-public ser-
owned and funded vice, Ofcom regula-
subscription TV, for- tions
profit
JPI Media Newspaper National, re- C o m m e r c i a l l y Voluntary regula-
group gional and local owned and funded, tion with IPSO
for-profit
ITV News TV National and C o m m e r c i a l l y Public service
regional owned and funded, broadcaster, Ofcom
for-profit regulations
Bauer Media Commercial National and C o m m e r c i a l l y Non-public service
radio group local owned and funded, broadcaster, Ofcom
for-profit regulations
Table 1: Key characteristics of participating news organisations
The aim is to reveal what varied representatives of the industry have in common and where they diverge, to
gain an understanding of the sector as a whole. As the number of interviews conducted is small, the findings
are not generalisable. However, as the research questions suggest, this can be seen as an exploratory study,
examining how a better understanding of professional practice can inform the teaching of digital journalism
in higher education.
Digital editors were selected for interview because they are ideally placed to understand both the strategies
and aspirations of their employers, as well as having daily, first-hand experience of how digital journalism
is produced on the newsroom floor. The detail of how journalists work, and with what tools, is important
to this study and is the kind of information that an executive might not possess, as their focus is on policy
rather than implementation. This notion was reinforced as I discovered in the process of pursuing suitable
contacts that some digital executives in news are from marketing or commercial backgrounds, rather than
journalism.
Themes were identified through the systematic analysis of the interview transcripts and guided by the
research questions, applying Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis (2006) approach. First, I searched for
anything interesting and relevant in the responses of the digital editors. Repeated, contradictory and unique
points were identified and categorised, using the emergent coding approach. I then organised the categories
I had discovered into the topics that are highlighted below in the findings and discussion sections. I first
present findings related to the perceptions of different digital platforms and their affordances; I then turn to
my suggestive typology of digital journalism skills.
Findings
Digital platforms used by the news organisations
There is a large degree of conformity in the digital platforms utilised by the broadcasters and publishers
who took part in the study. They all have their own websites and a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
and YouTube. Despite a small dip in usage from its highpoint four years ago, the Reuters Institute says that
in 2019 Facebook ‘remains by far the most important social network for news’ (Newman et al 2019, p.10),
both globally and in the UK (p.69). This is reflected in the perceptions and actions of the digital editors, who
all make their Facebook accounts a priority:
‘Facebook is the big one, absolutely the big one, where most of the audience comes from.’
(JPI Media)
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‘There’s an old saying, which does hold relatively true at the moment which is Facebook is for audience,
Twitter is for influence; and they do two very different things.’
(BBC Yorkshire)
Reuters Institute research also shows that whilst usage of Instagram is growing in the UK, it’s had rela-
tively little impact on the population’s journalism consumption habits, with only 4% of those surveyed say-
ing that they regularly use the social network for news (Newman et al 2019, p.69). This perhaps explains
the ambivalence towards Instagram from the interviewees. The Financial Times is encouraged by its initial
experimentation with the platform:
Instagram is actually the one that I think is most interesting and unique for us, in that it had in the past three
years the highest percentage of growth in terms of followers and engagement. And it is one for which we
also probably create the most bespoke content. It’s also the one which we’re beginning to actually be able to
drive traffic back to the FT.com.
Yet others, such as Sky News, reported that re-direction to its own website and therefore its own revenue
streams, was precisely the problem: ‘it’s quite difficult to drive volume and referral traffic from Instagram.’
Which leads us onto SnapChat, which has similar limitations to Instagram when it comes to referrals and
persuading its users to engage with journalism (Newman et al 2019, p.18). This seems to be the most divi-
sive platform. The conformity seen elsewhere does not apply to SnapChat, with vice.com and Sky News be-
ing the only organisations from our seven to routinely publish on the network. Access to a younger audience
is the chief attraction: ‘Snapchat is actually something we’re putting a big focus on just because it’s growing
such a huge audience that we didn’t have before which is the sort of 13 – 19 age range’ (vice.com). For Sky
News, there are also the seeds of commercial success:
Tech platforms, to varying degrees of success, are out to make some money for themselves and for us as well.
So that’s another reason we’re on Snapchat, you’ll find advertising in our new Snapchat shows, when ap-
propriate. Obviously some of the subject matter is not appropriate. So I understand why those publishers are
not on there. We’re on there to experiment, to reach a new audience, and make some money really.
Messaging services were hardly mentioned by participants, with BBC Yorkshire alone pointing to some
experimentation with WhatsApp. It is a similar story with aggregators, though both Sky News and vice.com
have associations with Apple News and Sky also provide content for Flipboard.
As the aim of this report is to help journalism teachers navigate the uncertainties of digital production, it
seems that one thing we can hang our hats on is that some platforms are particularly highly valued by dis-
parate news producers in the UK. Other social networks are experimented with, but it seems that Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram and YouTube have primacy when it comes to producing and disseminating stories.
Towards a typology of digital journalism skills
Having established the platforms utilised by the interviewees, we discussed the story formats that they
create for their digital outputs and the associated skills required by practitioners. I wanted to know, what
do digital journalists have to be able to do and what do they need to understand that differs from the com-
petencies familiar to reporters working in TV, radio or print? Is it possible to create a typology of digital
journalism practices that apply to news organisations that vary considerably in origin and character? This
would help guide journalism educators towards a focused, manageable and durable approach to teaching
digital journalism practice. The contributors came up with a wide range of answers, but a number of activi-
ties recurred. In this section, I will highlight and elaborate on the practices that were referenced by three or
more of the seven participants, to give an indication of the most widely used approaches and therefore work
towards a digital journalism typology.
1. digital video production
Representatives from the majority (six) of the participating news producers volunteered that making digi-
tal videos is a key ability. These ‘short form videos’, as they were also called, are familiar to mobile users
who generally watch but do not listen to video content (Patel, 2016), and follow the story aided by captions.
Sky News described some of the key differences between producing videos for digital platforms and tradi-
tional TV production:
Our video strategy, which is born out of metrics and insight, is that your mobile phone isn’t just a smaller
screen for television, and audience behaviour is different, they want to consume in square or vertical, they
want to consume with the sound off and so they need subtitles and captions. And they don’t consume for as
long a period of time, so when a typical TV VT might be three to four minutes, a digital video will be 60 to 90
seconds. We often invert the storytelling so that you don’t get the reporter leading like you do in a TV VT, you
get the real human element of the story straight at the top and then we might revisit it later. So that’s where
ArticlesVolume 9 number 1 Journalism Education page 11
our digital specialists come in.
The FT adds that from their experiences, the best performing digital videos are ‘on one specific story or
one specific topic’. Overall, it was clear from the participants that they have learnt a lot about digital video
production in recent years, with the differences in story structure, aesthetic appeal and an understanding of
the expectations of the audiences being key factors.
2. social listening
In varying ways, the FT, BBC Yorkshire, ITV News, vice.com and JPI Media, described the importance
of social listening. Through different approaches, they tap into comments and social media communications
as a way of developing story ideas and editorial strategy, as well as forming a closer relationship with their
audience. The FT employs what it calls a ‘community manager’ whose specific role is to build engagement
through comments:
We consider commenting, and the conversations that take place in comments, as being part of our journalism
and increasingly most news publishers are. And there are ways in which we can even use those communities
to feed our journalism. This is a whole subgenre of journalism which didn’t exist before comments.
This echoes a study by Chen and Pain that describes how journalists have warmed to the idea of interact-
ing with online comments as a way of ‘fostering mutually beneficial connections with the audience’ (2017,
p.876).
BBC Yorkshire describes a similar practice for harnessing views and experiences shared on social net-
works:
We do lots about social listening, which you could say is harvesting content from social media so we don’t
have to get off our arses. I’d say it’s different; I’d say it’s harder to get to the pub these days and due to
the smoking ban they’re slightly emptier so those conversations don’t happen there anymore. In local news
groups, people do speak freely and tell amazing stories without even knowing it.
This digital editor goes on to give an account of a story developed from a Facebook group called Leeds
Face, where someone posted about their dad passing his driving test for the first time at the age of 79, so he
could drive his wife, who had cancer, to hospital appointments. As ITV News put it: ‘we often do pick up
stories that are making waves on social media but haven’t yet crossed over into news’. Embracing digital
audience interaction and then responding to it in a way that informs your editorial output, is one clear addi-
tion to the reporter’s tool bag.
3. repurposing legacy media for social media.
As with social listening, five interviewees (JPI Media, BBC Yorkshire, ITV News, Sky and Bauer) cited the
ability to repurpose legacy media output for digital platforms as a key competence. Participants explained
that in the early days of digital production, materials would more-or-less be copied and pasted verbatim
from their native platform into a digital posting. So, for instance, whatever words might have been written
as the cue for a story that appeared in a TV news bulletin, would be the same words used in a Facebook post
that also incorporated a made-for-TV video of the same story. Now, that same TV content is deconstructed
and rebuilt with social media and mobile sensibilities in mind.
At Sky News, this is a specialist job; they employ seven people whose principal role is to repurpose TV
footage for digital videos. At the JPI Media, the conversion process requires collaboration: ‘The print team
will start the basics of creating the story for the web based on what they’ve written for the paper and chang-
ing it slightly. Then the digital team take it to another level and hopefully use it in the right way at the right
time on the right platform.’ It seems that at the moment, a large proportion of digital output, not least video,
is based on material originally captured for a legacy medium. BBC Yorkshire estimates the following in
terms of the source of video uploaded to its digital platforms: ‘I’d say at the minute 70% TV, 20% self-shot
and 10% UGC (user-generated content).’ That could change, as newsrooms increase their understanding of
the differing demands of a social media audience. ITV News are looking to do more of their own filming and
where possible, ask TV colleagues to pick up shots that specifically meet the needs of digital production.
4. explainers.
Four interviewees (JPI Media, FT, ITV News and BBC Yorkshire) extolled the popularity of ‘explainers’;
video or textual articles that supply the audience with key background information that places a developing
news story in context. It is the signature format of USA digital native Vox (The Economist, 2014) and its
success has been noted across the Atlantic. JPI Media sees this as a revival of public information journalism
that is ‘being brought into the digital age more and more’. ITV News have developed a similar approach to
Vox:
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Recently we’ve been doing fronted explainers, as we call them, where we have a presenter down the barrel
talking and leading the audience through. And then experimenting with graphics and overlays and archive
and so on. And hopefully engage them and take them through the story. We call it Evergreen Content. So a
Brexit explainer…we can reshare that and repost that most likely for some time to come.
The FT reports that such explainers ‘tend to do very well on social’. Again, it seems that this is a format
that is here to stay and therefore an approach to news journalism that university students should study and
practise.
5. analytics
The representatives of vice.com, JPI Media, FT and BBC Yorkshire highlighted the need for their staff to
be aware of audience metrics and how to use analytical tools. The FT argues that the essence of analytics is
‘being able to understand the degree to which a story only gets better when it’s informed by an understand-
ing of an audience and audience impact.’ The BBC Yorkshire view on analytics is similarly positive:
We are no longer throwing our line in the river and seeing what hits it; we can to a certain extent, not predict,
but we can see where we performed and didn’t, and improve that performance. That’s not to say the story
changes; it may be that our method of telling the story changes.
The influence of audience metrics on editorial judgements seen here is in line with the findings of many
previous studies, such as Tandoc’s work on analytics and the journalist’s role as gatekeeper (2014).
6. social storytelling
The final category captures a range of activities and skills that recognise the need to tell stories in differ-
ent ways for a social media based audience. Three interviewees (vice.com, FT and JPI Media) talked about
social storytelling specifically, though BBC Yorkshire, ITV News and Sky News had already commented on
the way in which digital videos are created in a way that takes into account how and why people use social
networks. For vice.com, the text that’s written to accompany the post is key:
There’s a huge skill to being able to sell a story basically on Twitter or Facebook because
people are inundated with stories, so [the aim is] to really stand out from that. We always try
to avoid clickbait because that’s the worst but you have to do something that’s going to pull
people in and it is a real skill…So it could be going through just having an eye for what is
either the most shareable piece of information in the article or the most enticing something
where you read just a snippet of it and go, ‘Oh I want to find out more about that.’
As well as writing in a way that will entice readers to look at your post and perhaps click on a link to your
website, the FT has created a new visual format to attract attention on social networks. They publish what
they call a ‘social card’ across all of their social media accounts:
It is a graphic made for social media that will have some kind of designed piece of information that flags
up the value of the story and has some call to action to actually click on that story. So it is really designed
for social, it’s meant to have all the information in one card, hence the reason it’s called a social card, and
so either tell a story or deliver a piece of information within that card. So it’s often a graphic or a chart. If
it’s a graphic it will be some striking image with a bit of text, and if it’s a chart it’ll have essentially a self-
contained story within that chart.
Whether using words, pictures or both, digital platforms demand that journalists think in new ways about
their audience and the social environments in which they meet them.
7. the rest and the (currently) disregarded
The following practices were each mentioned twice; live streaming, developing a social media following,
data journalism and podcasting. However, the audience’s appetite for the latter is clearly increasing accord-
ing to the latest Reuters Institute research:
In the UK, younger age groups, who spend much of their lives plugged into smartphones, are four times more
likely to listen to podcasts than over 55s – and much less likely to listen to traditional speech radio. Under
35s consume half of all podcasts despite making up around a third of the total adult population.
(Newman et al 2019, p. 29)
Other competencies identified by only a single interviewee were creating listicles, live blogging and gami-
fying stories through quizzes. It was also interesting to hear many of the digital editors explain how they
have experimented with VR and 360 degree storytelling, but none of their organisations have taken it
forward as an on-going format. JPI Media explained that it is, ‘not really in the core of the business at the
moment’. It’s a similar story at BBC Yorkshire, whose digital editor suggests that not every form of digital
media is going to work for journalism:
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I think, when there is a new tool out such as 360-degrees we rush to all use it, and then what you see after two
months is a real recession in the use of it and then it comes back intermittently. And the reason for that is we
like new things as journalists, and we can use them. However what we don’t do is identify what advantage
they give us or what’s good for the audience.
But ITV News said that they have ‘done a few 360 videos, as in crowd shots, where it’s lent itself to that’,
and might find more uses for it and VR in the future.
Awareness rather than mastery
Linking into the final point above about VR and 360 degree production, it was stated by the majority of
interviewees (BBC Yorkshire, ITV News, vice.com and FT) that they expected employees and prospective
employees to have an ‘awareness’ of the very latest developments in digital media. But they do not require
reporters to be able to produce work in every conceivable format, nor to have mastered every skill relating
to digital production. Comments made about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques exemplify this:
There is an expectation of at least basic understanding of how to tag your articles, relevant keywords in the
title or the subtitle, but yeah I’d say that’s kind of a minor concern, that’s more handled by, at least in our
company, by social media department and the marketing department rather than the journalists themselves.
(vice.com)
Likewise, BBC Yorkshire did not see SEO as a core skill for digital journalists: ‘They need to know that
SEO exists and a basic ten-point SEO list, and they might spend five hours doing it but I’m not convinced
they need to know the bells and whistles of SEO to be honest with you.’
That thought is echoed by the FT whose digital editor does not expect students to become polyvalent: ‘we
are asking [for] an awareness, if nothing else, of not how to produce everything, but of how to translate
journalism into being relevant to whatever publications, platforms are necessary.’ This is a key point that
speaks directly to the central question explored in this study; it seems that one of the secrets to teaching digi-
tal is that we do not need to cover every facet of practice in depth, so long as students have a wide-ranging
knowledge of what is happening in the industry, along with a willingness and capacity to learn.
Journalism fundamentals still valued
It was notable that many interviewees chose to go back to journalism basics when asked what they wanted
from graduates, despite the preceding conversation focusing on digital production. Some of the editors
made the point that new digital practices can be taught pretty readily on the job, whereas the essentials of
journalism cannot. What is more, as JPI Media summed up, the widely shared view was that whilst the
platforms have changed, in many respects, the fundamentals of the job have not:
People have this kind of misconception that when digital journalists are hired, or when people go work in
digital, that means they don’t need to do any proper reporting anymore, you’re just digital, all you do is
BuzzFeed style listicles, you don’t have to do any journalism. Which is not true. In fact, we still do a lot of
journalism where we need to interview people, we need to make sure it’s legally safe, we need to check with
police statements, verify people who have tweeted something and check it’s true, stand things up. So there’s
still a lot of the traditional journalism even in the production of digital articles on the web.
A variety of traditional journalism skills that underpin all forms of reporting, including digital practices,
came to the fore through the interviews. I have detailed below the four skills that were most frequently men-
tioned (at least four times) to give an indication of the editors’ priorities and to explain why these aspects of
a journalist’s role are still held in such high regard.
1. News sense
All seven digital editors identified the need for journalists to be curious about the world around them and
to follow-up on that curiosity by judging whether an event or circumstance should be reported on. No matter
what the medium or what their role might be, journalists have to know a story when they see one:
Because no matter how digitally first and whizzbang-ly data driven and visually driven and mobile driven
and socially driven our journalism is going to become, or indeed our audience will become, at the heart of
a successful piece of journalism is always a great story.
(Financial Times)
The digital-native vice.com agrees, saying that ‘story is key still’ and that it will always take precedence
over ‘whether it’s written or a 360 live video’. It was noticeable throughout the interviews that the editors
felt that a reporter’s ability to capture the essence of a story was demonstrated in their headline writing and
the wording of social network updates.
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2. Writing
The importance of this skill was also unanimously agreed upon and something that the contributors were
clearly passionate about. They stressed again that no matter the medium, platform or format, being able to
write is essential:
Writing is number one for me. I’m probably biased because of my background [in newspapers] but I feel it
feeds into everything else…when we were recently recruiting we had a lot of very talented people in video
but struggling with the writing and it’s a unique skillset now we’re after. We’re after strong writers. And I
think that goes on to video because if you can write well you can write good scripts, you can write the article
to accompany the video. You can sell it the best way you possibly can on social platforms. So we definitely
still need strong writers.
(ITV News)
The written word is really important. Whether you work in TV, radio, print or digital, the written word is still
the way that stories are built. Writing to script is a skill. Writing a proper news story is a skill… So learn the
principles of writing and be able to demonstrate that you can use those principles.
(Sky News)
3. Filming
Six of the interviewees volunteered that they believed it is important that journalists know how to film.
This is hardly surprising coming from our broadcasters, but it was interesting to see that representatives
from organisations with a publishing background agreed. JPI Media touched on the fact that whilst the
recording devices in use vary greatly within the industry, other aspects of the video producer’s role do not:
‘If you understand shooting, whether you’re using a broadcast camera or a mobile phone, the principles
remain the same.’
4. Interviewing
Sky News want journalists who can follow up on their curiosity by having ‘an ability to ask questions based
on that curiosity and have the confidence to do it in person or on the phone.’ Confidence is an issue because
of the particular challenges associated with interviewing:
If you’re going to be a journalist in news you are going to have to ask some awkward
questions of people who don’t want to answer your questions, and that might be people who
are bereaved, or it might be slippery politicians, or it might be criminals. But your job is to
ask those questions and so you need to develop a persona which will enable you to do that.
(Sky News)
Having the confidence to carry out interviews is clearly an issue, particularly for early career journalists.
As BBC Yorkshire puts it: “They need to be not scared to leave the office. I know this sounds stupid but
we see journalists increasingly who work in the office”. Altogether, four of the seven digital editors talked
about the importance of interviewing and the social skills that enable a reporter to secure contributions and
make the most of their opportunities.
5. The rest
The following attributes were cited a couple of times each: a knowledge of media law; ability to submit
Freedom Of Information requests and an understanding of providing balance through counterpoints in re-
porting. Single mentions were given to following a style guide, working a beat, learning how to pitch ideas,
fact checking and shorthand.
Coping with constant change
An observation shared by the majority of interviewees (JPI Media, ITV News, Financial Times and BBC
Yorkshire), was that a major challenge they face as digital journalism leaders is keeping up with the pace of
change. They echoed previous research findings outlined in the introduction to this article by explaining that
technological advances and the power of third party platforms were the leading drivers behind this constant
state of flux. ITV News explained how the velocity of evolution within digital journalism is unprecedented
in the industry:
It’s a blessing and a curse really working in digital in that it’s forever changing. With TV formats, if you’d
have watched a bulletin from 50 years ago to now you wouldn’t see a massive difference. Maybe one’s black
and white and one’s colour but you wouldn’t see a massive shift, whereas digital in the last couple of years
we’ve shifted considerably and I think we continue to and every time we bring something new in or try a
new format we know at the back of our mind we’ll be changing this again in a few months’ time. So it’s great
and exciting in that way and we have to keep developing and moving to try and stay ahead of the curve but
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sometimes it’s hard to keep up.
JPI Media gives us an insight into how the pressure is experienced on the newsroom floor:
We have emails going out constantly to our staff saying this has been changed now, would you do it this way.
This has been changed. This is changing from next week, etc. Constant adapting. It can be quite tiring in a
way, constantly changing to the way social media platforms are changing.
Newsroom managers, such as our digital editors, not only have to cope with the stress that they feel as a
consequence of ever-changing strategies, skills and practices, but have to bring their teams along with them.
The head of digital news at the FT suggests that one approach that seems to work is to recruit reporters
who bring with them the ability to adapt: ‘we are asking [of candidates] that there be evidence of awareness
and a willingness to be able to be a quick study or a good student of whatever a newsroom’s need is.’ The
desirability of being a good learner and somebody who can handle or even thrive on change, suggests that
graduates of journalism schools in universities are well-placed to succeed as digital journalists.
Discussion and Conclusions
The core skills of journalism (nose for a story, ability to research and verify information, interviewing,
ability to write/shoot/audio record a report etc.) remain the same in the digital age. In fact they seem to be
particularly highly valued because they are fundamental to the role and transcend medium, platform or
format, whilst many aspects of digital production seem ephemeral. As BBC Yorkshire put it: ‘as we move
forward I think we need to equip people to do the old things better.’
But it is also clear that a series of new practices have emerged that are being sustained by a wide range of
news producers from varied backgrounds. As a representative sample, the experiences of seven news organ-
isations are inconclusive. However, to see them adopting the same methods despite their great differences
in origin, audience and financial structure, suggests it is possible to identify what could be considered some
fundamentals of digital journalism practice. The beginnings of a typology has been identified. Conversely,
with other production approaches infrequently mentioned or completely overlooked, there may be scope to
lighten what can seem like an overwhelming digital workload on both journalists and journalism educators.
Further solutions to the problem of how journalism programmes cover a vast and volatile breadth of
digital activity, can be distilled from what our editors had to say. Many emphasised the desirability of rais-
ing students’ awareness of new practices, formats and genres, rather than filling their time and brains with
specific processes, software and skills that they may never use or could acquire on the job. They instead
highlighted the importance of being a willing learner who can master change. The majority of our inter-
viewees volunteered that a willingness to learn new practices and acquire new skills was key to success as
a digital journalist.
This last item points to the innate advantage that higher education has over other environments for teach-
ing journalism: ‘an educator’s role is to facilitate the learning process and encourage students to become
active agents and the drivers of their own educational experiences’ (Larrondo-Ureta and Fernández, 2017,
p.10). Our graduates have been taught how to teach themselves and find solutions independently. They
have the mental agility and experience to be open and responsive to new ideas and innovation. What the
university sector does as a matter of course, seems perfectly in sync with the key underlying characteristic
of a successful digital journalist.
Some scholars go further in their depiction of the role journalism teachers in higher education can play in
meeting the challenges presented by digital media:
Academics, so often external spectators, need to be offered a seat at the table in order to provide the insight
and experience that comes from studying these issues in a deeper context and over a longer period.
(Rottwilm 2014, p.20)
This approach is already in evidence through the work, for example, of the Reuters Institute for the Study
of Journalism in the UK and the Poynter Institute in the USA. Furthermore, in 2017, the JournalismKX
website was launched with the express purpose of bringing together journalists in the UK and academics
researching journalism, to encourage collaboration on shared areas of interest and innovation. How these
joint ventures feed into journalism education is something that could be further explored.
So the task now is to not only get on top of teaching digital journalism, but to stay ahead by being a part
of its evolution. Universities are already well-placed to help the next generation of practitioners cope with
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the pace and relentlessness of technologically-driven change. If they can also participate in future devel-
opments, journalism schools will understand what is happening from the inside, rather than relying on
occasional studies based on short-term, small scale and temporary relationships with news organisations.
An appetite for exploration, innovation and continuous study, is shared by the higher education and digital
journalism producers. This seems like a solid basis for a close working relationship.
Further research
By identifying common practices, approaches and viewpoints amongst disparate news organisations in the
UK, and recognising the special role that higher education has to play in the teaching and development of
digital journalism, this study has contributed to a pressing debate for media practice educators. But clearly
more can be done to cement, qualify or advance the findings made here. Areas for potential further research
include:
A comprehensive survey of digital journalism practices in the UK, to provide a statistically significant
gauge of activities and a complete typology;
A study of what it is that journalism educators are teaching, to see where the differences exist between
industry and the academy;
Newsroom based ethnographic research, looking at what impact the practices identified have on journal-
ism culture and internal politics.
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